China Make Hike “Green” Credit for Hybrids

China policymakers may reclassify hybrid vehicles to give them more credit in meeting the country’s tougher emission and fuel economy rules.

The government will hold hearings about the plan in August and reportedly will make a decision within a year whether to adopt the plan.

China has not given special status to hybrids in the past. In helping to create a huge market for EVs in China, for example, the government offered incentives for battery-powered cars but no special deals for hybrids—even though they deliver better fuel economy and lower emissions than vehicles propelled by piston power alone.

Under a new points system introduced this year, carmakers offset negative points collected by the fossil fuel-burning vehicles they make with positive points earned by producing all-electric vehicles. Carmakers must build at least 20,000 all-electric vehicles for every 1 million conventional or hybrid units they make.

The current policy gives carmakers little incentive to build hybrids. Revisions proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology would grant hybrids a midway status as “low fuel consumption passenger vehicles.”

The change would reduce the negative points assigned to hybrid production. Reuters says the roundabout policy would encourage carmakers to make and sell more hybrids, which are cheaper than all-electric cars, and give buyers a broader choice of more environmentally friendly options.

Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. are positioned to benefit most by the rule change, since both are high-volume producers of hybrids in other markets.